The present invention is directed to improvements in protective headgear. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a helmet which can be removed in an emergency situation without excessive movement of the wearer's head to avoid exacerbating possible head, neck or spinal injuries.
Protective headgear is worn by various athletes including but not limited to football players, race car drivers, motorcyclists, bikers, hockey players, skate boarders, and ski racers. In spite of efforts to protect the head of the wearer, occasionally a sports participant undergoes a head, neck or spinal injury. In such cases, it is extremely important that the head not be moved until the nature and extent of the injury can be diagnosed. Simultaneously, it is just as critical that the head gear be removed quickly should CPR be necessary and to enable the diagnosis to be carried out quickly so proper medical attention can be administered promptly. Conventional headgear requires the head of the wearer to be raised and an axial pull force, and associated frictional force, exerted to effect removal. Such movement of a patient's head is exactly the type of movement that could turn a relatively minor injury into a permanent disability.
Within the last several months, several severe injuries and, in some cases, deaths, have occurred due to head and/or spinal injuries to participants in sporting events. It is possible that one or more of the injuries may have been aggravated by the need to remove the wearer's helmet in order to administer first aid. The present invention provides a multiple-piece helmet design, the parts of which can be disassembled and removed from the head of its wearer while minimizing movement of the athlete's head and spinal column.
A first rigid portion is attached to a second rigid portion, preferably first and second halves, by a securing means that may be detached in the event of an emergency. The securing means can take any of a variety of forms including, but not limited to buckles, pronged fingers and recesses with fasteners, threaded fasteners alone, and a woven wire. The portions are most preferably a front half and a back half. In a medical emergency, the front half can be removed while the player is lying on her/his back, the patient fitted with a supporting collar and simply lifted out of the back half. In this way, cervical strain and range of motion (ROM) of the head, neck and spine to effect removal of the helmet are greatly reduced. While the present invention deals only with the external portions of the helmet, it will be understood that the internal liner will similarly need to be made in multiple pieces. These pieces can be most easily made separable through simply overlapping tapered soft liner portions. As an alternative, the liner may be equipped with VELCRO fasteners on the interface between the multiple pieces or two halves, as depicted in the drawings.
The securing means can take a variety of forms and several embodiments are shown. In a first embodiment, the securing means comprises a plurality of buckles, one section formed on each helmet portion, and one of the sections being relatively movable with respect to the helmet to permit the plurality of buckles to be affixed seriatim. A second embodiment depicts the securing means as a plurality of fasteners threaded directly into a layer from one of the helmet halves that underlies the other helmet half. A series of interdigitating fingers, pins in recesses, or a tongue-in-groove arrangement is provided to supply the needed alignment and joint reinforcement necessary.
A third and fourth embodiment of the present invention utilize a tension wire wound through interdigitating helmet portions which may include reinforcing steel pins. A first end of the wire is received in a recess and the opposite end is adjustable to remove the slack and adjust the tension in the wire as the tension in the wire, over time, produces stretching or creep. A fifth embodiment employs a latching between a series of pronged fingers on a first helmet half and a series of recesses or indentations on the second half, with fasteners insuring securement of the fingers in the indentations.
Other features, advantages and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art following a reading of the following specification.